First, imagine you enter your classroom, energized and excited! Students can feel your excitement. They may even wonder what happened to you. As you lean back in your chair with satisfaction, you gather instructions and other supplemental materials to hand out for pre-algebra word problems.

Next, begin by organizing students in small groups.

• 1. Go to the back of the room, if you prefer math homework over writing a story.
  2. Go to the front of the room if you like to draw.
  3. Remain seated if you like to read and write stories.

Now you will instruct students to form small groups. State that each small group must have at least one person in their group who likes math. There must also be at least one person who likes to draw and another who likes to read and write stories.

Next, provide students with the following:
1. Keyword lists for word problems
2. Math expressions or equations such as 2x + 3 = 15.
3. Encourage students to use example problems provided in their notes or math text to help stimulate ideas for their creation.

Finally, instruct students to write a word problem based on the math expression or equation given. Explain that the final product must include a story, drawn illustration and correspond with the expression or equation. Add that stories written using different keywords for the same problem will result in an extra credit point.